1980 My literary era

The "Xinwen Lianbo" report was like a clarion call, blowing the tide of news media across the country reporting on "Red Sorghum" winning the Golden Bear Award.

Suddenly, the names of Zhang Yimou and "Red Sorghum" resounded throughout the country.

Gong Li and Han Zhuangzhuang, who could only be used as side dishes at press conferences, have also become the favorites for interviews by various media. They are busy every day, and there is only two words on their agenda - interview.

Zhang Yimou is in a similar state to the two of them. He accepts endless interviews and attends endless meetings every day.

Not only that, the higher-ups also issued instructions to Xiying Studio.

It is not easy for China to produce an award-winning film like "Red Sorghum", so we simply submitted all the films that could be registered this year. This news made Zhang Yimou extremely embarrassed.

In his opinion, winning the Golden Bear Award for "Red Sorghum" is already the highest honor this film can receive.

After winning the Golden Bear, it is impossible to participate in the other two major European film festivals. Don't count on the Oscars. At this time, China has not established contact with the Oscars.

It actually doesn’t mean much for “Red Sorghum” to participate in some less high-level film festivals.

But who is the leader? Besides, it wouldn’t hurt to win two more awards, so Zhang Yimou could only agree.

Another piece of good news is that Xiying Film Studio has set a release date for "Red Sorghum" in mid-March.

Taking advantage of the fact that this award-winning film has spread across the country, I believe that "Red Sorghum" will definitely achieve good box office results.

In the room of Yanjing Hotel, Lin Weimin met Bertolucci again.

From the second half of last year to this year, Bertolucci has been traveling between Europe, the United States and China to prepare for "The Last Emperor".

After this period of preparation, "The Last Emperor" was finally co-produced by Italian Yanco Film Company, British Doo Film Company and China Film Co-Production Company.

Producer Thomas obtained loans from several banks for the majority of the funds. There are requirements for bank loans, which is to ensure that the film can at least recoup its costs.

The movie hasn't been made yet, how can we ensure we get back the money?

This requires finding a strong publisher and conducting pre-sales.

Relying on the reputation of director Bertolucci and the strong connections of the producer, "The Last Emperor" found Columbia Pictures in the United States at the beginning of filming. "The Last Emperor" has not even started filming yet and has not even confirmed the cast list. However, pre-authorization of the film has been sold to dozens of countries and regions around the world.

Listening to Bertolucci's narration, Teng Jinxian seemed to be hearing a fantasy. This kind of financing method is something that domestic officials today cannot understand even if they think about it.

Now, the first batch of investment funds for "The Last Emperor" has been received, and the subsequent funds will be received in batches according to the filming progress of the movie.

At this stage of preparation, a lot of preparatory work has been completed. The most critical thing now is the cast list. This is also the purpose of Bertolucci looking for Teng Jinxian and Lin Weimin today.

According to their previous agreement, the protagonist of the movie must be a foreigner.

But in terms of actors, the Colombian company in the United States has recommended Zun Long, a mixed-race actor from Hollywood with Chinese descent, so Bertolucci can only give the heroine.

Teng Jinxian is already very satisfied with such conditions. After all, the domestic China Film Co-production Company for the movie "The Last Emperor" is only a co-producer and ranks at the bottom.

However, Bertolucci had difficulties in choosing actresses. Bertolucci did not know any domestic actors.

Lin Weimin said: "This is simple. First, you must be well-known in the country, and you must be suitable for the role. There are not many candidates who meet these two requirements. Let's make a list and let everyone come for an interview. These actresses will definitely be willing."

Teng Jinxian nodded, this is the safest way.

Bertolucci also agreed, "That's it. But this candidate..."

Bertolucci looked at the two of them, and Lin Weimin looked at Teng Jinxian, "You are always the director, and these actors are all your soldiers. You should make a list for Director Bei!"

Teng Jinxian smiled bitterly. This job looked good, but in fact it was a thankless job.

But who made him the director of the Film Bureau?

He scribbled down a bunch of names. The first one was Liu Xiaoqing, followed by Pan Hong, Chen Chong, Fang Shu, Zhang Yu, Gong Xue...

At the end of writing, Teng Jinxian also wrote Tao Huimin's name.

Lin Weimin knew that Lao Teng wanted to do him a favor, but he directly erased Tao Huimin's name.

Tao Huimin is currently filming "Dream of Red Mansions", and she is the absolute protagonist. The filming of "Dream of Red Mansions" spanned three years from 1986 to 1989, with an investment of tens of millions. It is impossible for her to give up the project halfway.

This kind of thing might happen if it happened to Liu Xiaoqing.

Although Liu Xiaoqing was also filming "A Dream of Red Mansions" at this time, Wang Xifeng's role was not as important as that of Tao Huimin. Let alone a sideshow, even if Liu Xiaoqing quit "A Dream of Red Mansions" to star in "The Last Emperor", she would dare to do it.

This sister has always been bold and unconventional.

After crossing out Tao Huimin's name, Lin Weimin did not return the pen to Teng Jinxian, but wrote another name on the paper.

"Gong Li".

Teng Jinxian's eyes lit up, why didn't he think of it?

"Red Sorghum" has just won the Berlin Golden Bear. As the heroine of the film, Gong Li has made a solid appearance in front of movie audiences around the world.

Before "Red Sorghum", China's film industry lacked actors with international influence. Liu Xiaoqing's influence is limited to cross-strait and three places, and Pan Hong's influence is limited to East Asia, not to mention male actors.

But things are different now. With her wonderful performance in "Red Sorghum", Gong Li has the potential to become China's first actress with international influence.

If she can star in "The Last Emperor", Gong Li's popularity in the West will be consolidated again and further improved.

You must know that "The Last Emperor" is a large-scale production with an investment of more than 20 million yuan, and will be released in many countries and regions around the world in the future.

By then, Gong Li, like Zhang Yimou, will become a business card of the Chinese film industry to the world.

After writing the list, Bertolucci asked about the meaning of the exchange between Lin Weimin and Teng Jinxian just now.

Lin Weimin told Bertolucci about "Red Sorghum" and Gong Li, and Bertolucci nodded after listening.

No objection was raised. He did not attend the Berlin Film Festival, so he had no intuitive impression of the reception "Red Sorghum" and Gong Li received at the festival.

But he had heard about the Golden Bear Award for "Red Sorghum" in the past few days, but he was too busy recently and didn't care too much. Now that he mentioned it, he asked to see the movie, and Director Zhang Yimou.

Teng Jinxian called Zhang Yimou over without saying a word.

Zhang Yimou was a little excited to see Bertolucci. Comrade Lao Bei became famous too early. Zhang Yimou even filmed his films when he was studying at Yan Ying. It's no wonder he was excited to meet such an iconic figure.

"No need to belittle yourself, you are now a great director who has won the Golden Bear Award. Comrade Lao Bei got all the nominations." Lin Weimin joked when he saw that Zhang Yimou was a little nervous.

The translator on the side hesitated and said nothing. Lin Weimin smiled and said: "It's okay, you translate yours."

The translator then repeated what Lin Weimin said. Bertolucci didn't mind after hearing this, but laughed loudly, "Lin is right. Zhang, you are a great director now. As long as you can make more films in your future career, A work like "Red Sorghum" is enough to leave a mark in the history of world cinema."

Being encouraged by Bertolucci was a huge boost to Zhang Yimou's confidence.

After the two exchanged their experiences on film shooting, Bertolucci couldn't help but admire Zhang Yimou's talent in film shooting.

Lao Mouzi's talent in movies is recognized, especially in terms of images and photography. The stories of his movies may not surprise you, but the images will definitely surprise you.

As for movies, apart from the core of the story, the most important thing is the picture.

After chatting with Zhang Yimou, Bertolucci talked about wanting Gong Li to audition for "The Last Emperor".

Zhang Yimou said happily: "That's great."

At this time, Zhang Yimou and Gong Li did not develop a relationship beyond friendship. He was simply happy for Gong Li from the perspective of a colleague.

Apart from that, there is also a bit of pride.

Gong Li's fame is inseparable from "Red Sorghum". In other words, it was his movie that made Gong Li famous.

After chatting in the Yanjing Hotel, Lin Weimin and others went to Bertolucci to visit the film office.

"Red Sorghum" has not yet been released to the public at this time, and only the film bureau can screen it internally.

After watching the movie, Bertolucci gave a very high evaluation, which made Zhang Yimou feel a little proud.

A person's name, the shadow of a tree.

Don't look at the fact that Bertolucci has only been nominated for the three major European awards, Oscars and Golden Globes so far, but once or twice is a coincidence. So many times can only prove that he is indeed capable of winning awards, but it is just bad luck.

Moreover, Bertolucci has been famous since the 1960s and has been in the international film industry for twenty years. Zhang Yimou is very proud of being highly praised by him.

After the meeting with Bertolucci, the news about the audition of domestic actresses for the heroine of "The Last Emperor" soon spread through the channels of the film bureau to major domestic film studios, drama troupes and other art groups.

Suddenly, the courtyard of Yanjing Film Academy looked like a city in front of a Qing Dynasty building.

Thomas, the producer of "The Last Emperor," rented the newly built imitation Qing Dynasty building at Yanjing Film Academy in Yanjing Film Academy. The row of buildings can be used as a filming background and a temporary guest house.

An entire row of two-story buildings has been booked by the crew of "The Last Emperor". The people who usually come and go are all foreigners, which is particularly noticeable at first glance.

Lin Weimin was invited by Bertolucci to participate in the audition today. As one of the screenwriters, Teng Jinxian has an official status. This kind of audition is not appropriate to attend, so Lin Weimin was invited.